MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State University women's tennis team (6-14) will compete at the eight-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament starting this Friday morning in the quarterfinals inside Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
SMSU, which finished tied for seventh in the NSIC regular season standings with a 5-6 record, will be the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will open with No. 2 Minnesota State (13-1) on Friday starting at 9 a.m. If SMSU wins, they will advance to the semifinals on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match versus either No. 3 seed UMary or No. 6 seed Winona State. The championship match is slated for 10 a.m. on Sunday. All matches in the tournament will be pulled once a team has reached four points.
 
SMSU secured a spot in the tournament defeating Minnesota Crookston, 5-2, and Bemidji State, 7-0, last weekend in Bemidji, Minn.
 
MSU defeated SMSU twice during the season, earning 5-2 victory during the 2022 fall season, before winning 6-1 on April 8.
 
Augustana, which won its 13th straight NSIC regular season championship this season, will be the number one seed. Augustana has won 151 straight NSIC matches, with its last loss coming back on April 19, 2009, to Minnesota State. Since joining the NSIC in 2008-09, the Viking are 158-3 in NSIC matches, have won 13 straight NSIC regular season titles and the last 11 NSIC Tournaments. The Vikings have won their last 31 NSIC Tournament matches as well.
 
The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
•SMSU has qualified for the NSIC Tournament in four straight seasons (the 2020 tournament was canceled). SMSU was the No. 8 seed in 2019, losing 4-0 to No. 1 Augustana. In 2021, SMSU, the No. 5 seed, defeated No. 4 UMary, 4-1, for its first tournament victory since the 2009 season. SMSU then lost to No. 1 Augustana in the semifinals. Last season, SMSU defeated Upper Iowa, 4-2, before losing to Winona State, 4-2, in the semifinals.